Fred Hersch - Breath By Breath

Styles: Piano Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:28
Size: 107,4 MB
Art: Front

(6:52) 1. Begin Again
(4:13) 2. Awakened Heart
(6:22) 3. Breath By Breath
(4:01) 4. Monkey Mind
(5:02) 5. Rising, Falling
(4:39) 6. Mara
(3:41) 7. Know That You Are
(5:24) 8. Worldly Winds
(6:10) 9. Pastorale

Fred Hersch’s Breath by Breath is a special album by any standard. Compositionally, the implementation of a string quartet into his pieces is breathtaking. Fred Hersch‘s Breath by Breath is a third-stream masterpiece. In addition to enlisting bassist Drew Gress and drummer Jochen Rueckert, the veteran pianist has opened the sound up to include percussionist Rogerio Boccato and all four members of the Crosby Street String Quartet. Breath by Breath sounds like a jazz piano trio album with string additions on some tracks. On others, the lines between jazz and classical music will start to blur. As the genre continues to dreamily float in some in-between zone, musical emphasis shifts between piano and string quartet. Compositionally, Hersch’s implementation of the string quartet into his pieces is breathtaking.

It turns out that Hersch had been pondering the inner workings of a string quartet for most of his life. “I grew up listening to string quartets as a very young musician in Cincinnati,” he writes in the album’s liner notes. “My piano teacher was the wife of the cellist in the famous LaSalle Quartet. I used to lie on the rug in their living room as an elementary school student while they rehearsed, quietly following along, hearing how the viola part meshed with the first violin, or the second violin and the cello.” Hersch then describes how he began studying composition at age eight. You read that right. That means Hersch has had close to 60 years to think about how best to loop a string quartet through his piano compositions or the other way around.

Of the nine pieces on Breath by Breath, eight make up “The Sati Suite”. “Sati” roughly translates to “mindfulness” or “awareness”, thus making the 40 minutes of music revolve around meditation. Some titles don’t need much explanation, like “Breath by Breath”, “Rising, Falling”, and “Know That You Are”. Others are a bit more abstract, like “Monkey Mind” and “Mara”, if you are unfamiliar with stories of the Buddha. The theme lies within the subject rather than the music itself, allowing Hersch to do whatever he likes stylistically. “Mara”, named for a god that tempted Buddha with material desires, makes Boccato the star of the show. Like clockwork, his light percussive touch is the only pulse behind cellist Jody Redhage Ferber as she introduces Hersch’s tenuous solo. The sleepy drone that Boccato creates is an atmosphere not unlike something Cyro Baptista would record for Tzadik.

The opener, “Begin Again”, leans towards the jazzier side of the third stream spectrum, though Rueckert’s beat is more Latin-influenced than swing. “Awakened Heart” is pure melancholy, starting with a molto string quartet and handing things over to Hersch as he searches for a new link between the spirit of Bill Evans and mindful meditation. “Breath by Breath” begins as a quartet piece but soon finds Rueckert escorting them with brushwork, thereby morphing into a quiet piece of lounge jazz. “Worldly Winds”, the concluding movement, sees the two approaches fully immersed with one another. The quartet get a track to themselves with “Know That You Are”, a Romantic piece of shifting chords and unclear resolution. “Monkey Mind”, named for distracting thoughts that get in the way of meditation, leaps over the Romantic era with string pizzicato and wide interval hopping from Hersch.

The one track that is not part of “The Sati Suite” is placed at the end, “Pastorale (Homage a Robert Schumann)”. Hersch begins the piece with a pretty unassuming pattern that continually rises as more and more is added to the mix. That all stops at one point and turns into a plucked string quartet melody that ushers in Hersch staccato melody. If this is an homage to “The Merry Peasant”, then said peasant must have gotten lost somewhere along the way – or took a detour to a tavern. By the time the rest of the piano trio returns, the harmony has turned to a shifting state of bewilderment. But as all conflict is soon followed by resolution, Hersch takes everything back to an agreeable place of rest with both piano and strings.

Breath by Breath is a special album by any standard. Whether one considers it a crossover project or just an enhanced jazz album, the compositions and performances can’t be improved. Together, the continuity they produce can only be enhanced from repeated listens.~ John Garratt https://www.popmatters.com/author/john_garratt

Personnel: Piano – Fred Hersch; Bass - Drew Gress; Cello – Jody Redhage Ferber; Drums – Jochen Rueckert; Viola – Lois Martin; Violin – Joyce Hammann, Laura Seaton

Breath By Breath

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James Emery, Joe Lovano, Judi Silvano, Drew Gress - Fourth World

Styles: Free Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:47
Size: 153,6 MB
Art: Front

( 5:18) 1. Bellflower
( 8:59) 2. Golden Horn
(11:52) 3. Fourth World
( 8:57) 4. Worship
( 8:07) 5. Splendido
( 5:32) 6. La Scala
( 8:46) 7. The Next Level
( 5:12) 8. In A Secret Place
( 4:00) 9. Hannah's Song

The title of this newly issued recording might ordinarily imply notions of poverty and human rights, but in the liners, guitarist James Emery iterates that the Fourth World “is the world, or dimension, of vibration.” We are presented with four world-class musicians pursuing good vibes on this astutely constructed 2002 release. Joe Lovano performs on a variety of woodwind instruments here, yet on certain tracks he also mans the drum kit, also evidenced on his recent Flights Of Fancy outing. A minor beef is in order for the decision of not utilizing a seasoned drummer, as Lovano is prone to sound tentative amid choppy and uninteresting fills.

However, his activities behind the kit do not detract from the recording when viewed upon as a whole, as the musicians surreptitiously translate polytonal pastiches of sound through often-compelling exchanges. On many of these works, the band is apt to break off into briefly actualized sub-groups. Alternatively, on pieces such as “Fourth World,” Judi Silvano renders whispery vocalise in unison with her associates’ complex themes. The quartet pronounces an airy backdrop via loosely formulated dialogue or when Lovano and acoustic guitarist James Emery partake in blistering cat-and-mouse like episodes.

Emery executes razor sharp single note lines and sweeping chord progressions during “La Scala,” while also counterbalancing Lovano with emphatically placed accents on their duet encounter titled “The Next Level.” Throughout this affair, bassist Drew Gress serves as the traffic director, while Ms. Silvano picks up the flute on the Caribbean tinged closer, “Hannah’s Song.” The musicians bring a mélange of experience to the table as they elicit notions of wide open terrain or expansive horizons, while touching upon the preternatural minutiae of the Fourth Dimension. Recommended.~Glenn Astarita https://www.allaboutjazz.com/fourth-world-joe-lovano-between-the-lines-review-by-glenn-astarita

Personnel: James Emery: acoustic guitar - Joe Lovano: tenor, soprano, C melody, straight alto saxophones, alto clarinet, bells, shakers, gongs, log drums & drums - Judi Silvano: flute & voice - Drew Gress: acoustic bass

Fourth World

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Andy Biskin - Trio Tragico

Styles: Clarinet Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:00
Size: 146,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:33)  1. Boomerang
(6:13)  2. I Should Talk
(5:05)  3. Hey Day
(5:28)  4. Walking Distance
(4:15)  5. I Think Not
(5:18)  6. You That Knew Him
(4:32)  7. Paging Mr. Yes
(2:59)  8. Night Shade
(4:52)  9. Over the Years
(6:10) 10. Top Left Corner
(4:04) 11. Still Busy (the Honk Honk Song)
(5:38) 12. You Who
(2:48) 13. Plaything

Released in tandem with Early American (an exploration of the music of Stephen Foster), Trio Tragico showcases clarinetist Andy Biskin working within the confines of an unconventional chamber-jazz trio. With characteristic wit, the composer delivers an album that is not nearly as melodramatic as the title implies. Biskin enjoys a sublime foil in the rich and classically pure trumpet of Dave Ballou. Ubiquitous Downtown bassist Drew Gress is the fulcrum on which the two horn players pivot. With no drummer present, his lines support not only the pulse, but the principal melody and implied harmonies as well. A mercurial writer and economical improviser, Biskin's sense of humor seeps into his music in subtle ways. While the trio occasionally flirts with melancholy, it never sounds morose. Embracing postmodern irony, but without the cool detached attitude, Biskin and company plot a lyrically poignant course that's unfettered by stylistic conventions.

"Boomerang" opens the album with a solemn refrain, recalling an Old World dirge by blending mournful clarinet, somber trumpet and plangent bowed bass. Suddenly, the tune comes alive; the bass bounds into a brisk walking pattern, launching a jubilant clarinet flight, followed by an equally ebullient trumpet solo. The horns weave a sonorous web, accompanying each other throughout, and Gress takes a brief statement before the collective finish. The baroque-inspired composition "Over The Years" follows a similarly whimsical strategy. Biskin maintains straight-laced classicism, intermittently inserting searing Yiddish doina laments, then just as abruptly returning to the formal structure. The trio generates more than just pleasant melodies; compare the rich harmonies of "Hey Day" to the folksy, see-saw jauntiness of "Walking Distance," with its fractured lullaby ambience. The infectious "Paging Mr. Yes," while outwardly reminiscent of an early two-step, employs shades of an impulsive, Ivesian nature. Biskin's pieces are enigmatic but always accessible, from the gorgeous balladry and Middle Eastern flourishes of "I Should Talk" to sprightly bop pieces such as "I Think Not" and "Plaything." The trio blends subtle improvisation and nuanced group interaction so seamlessly into Biskin's compositions that the dividing line between the two vanishes. With creative arrangements and stellar interplay, Trio Tragico invokes a broad sonic palette, bringing these enchanting pieces to life. Whether exploring tangos, marches, Dixieland, bebop or any number of early American song forms, Biskin's trio handles it all with respect and good humor.~ Troy Collins https://www.allaboutjazz.com/trio-tragico-andy-biskin-strudelmedia-review-by-troy-collins.php

Personnel: Andy Biskin: clarinet, bass clarinet; Dave Ballou: trumpet; Drew Gress: bass.

Trio Tragico

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Marc Copland Trio - Haunted Heart

Styles: Piano Jazz 
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:55
Size: 152,3 MB
Art: Front

(1:55)  1. My Favorite Things 1
(7:17)  2. Crescent
(6:32)  3. Dark Territory
(6:05)  4. Greensleeves
(5:39)  5. When We Dance
(2:26)  6. My Favorite Things 2
(7:50)  7. Soul Eyes
(8:02)  8. It Ain't Necessarily So
(7:49)  9. Easy to Love
(8:42) 10. Haunted Heart
(3:33) 11. My Favorite Things 3

Originally released in 2001, Marc Copland's Haunted Heart deserves re-examination and re-evaluation, as hatOLOGY brings one of the perennially undervalued pianist's most sublime trio recordings back into print. With the original subtitle And Other Ballads removed, those familiar with Copland's intimate approach will already know what to expect, especially with a trio that, in the early part of the 21st century, was Copland's most consistent line-up. Copland works less regularly with drummer Jochen Rueckert these days, but this first trio encounter with bassist Drew Gress their first recorded collaboration being Second Look (Savoy Jazz, 2006), with guitarist John Abercrombie and drummer Billy Hart; a quartet recently reformed for Another Place (Pirouet, 2008) and expanded to a quintet with the addition of saxophonist Dave Liebman on Five on One (Pirouet, 2010) was of particular importance. It introduced a marvellously effective stylistic conceit that Copland would repeat on subsequent hatOLOGY releases, including the career-defining solo disc, Time Within Time (2005): choose a particularly meangingful song, and use multiple solo takes to bracket other material in the program. In this case, Copland delivers three very different, yet consistently dark and brooding readings of the old Sound of Music chestnut, "My Favorite Things" made famous in the jazz world by John Coltrane to set up two mini-sets that combine other songs popularized by the late saxophone giant, as well as a subtly Latin-esque look at Sting's "When We Dance," a series of well-heeled but here equally distinctive standards, and one Copland original.

Copland turns the ambling swing and simmering intensity of Coltrane's "Crescent" into a hushed, romantic showcase for his impressionistic harmonic approach; rarely resolving in a direct way, Copland instead deals in ambiguous implication. Coltrane also covered the traditional English tune "Greensleeves," but the "sheets of sound" saxophonist never sounded this spare, this economical...or this hauntingly lyrical. Copland's own "Dark Territory" fleshes out the first "set," revolving around a three-note bass pattern that shifts harmonically, but acts as a rallying motif throughout this perfect example of the pianist's three-way empathy with his band mates; Rueckert's understated brushwork, a definitive combination of gentle pulse and kaleidoscopic color; and Gress' thematically oblique feature surpassed only by his unerring support for Copland's softly stated solo. The second set collects a number of often covered standards, with the trio's take on Mal Waldron's enduring "Soul Eyes" one of the best on record. The trio's approach to time is fluid and pliant, so when it begins to swing more decidedly than anywhere else on the disc with Copland into some of his most assertive and overtly virtuosic playing of the set it creates a dramatic high point, without breaking free of the disc's overall subdued tone. It's hard to beat Copland's subsequent New York Trio Recordings series on Pirouet, where the pianist teamed with three different trios to explore the intimacies of the format. Still, though he'd been working with piano trios for nearly two decades when Haunted Heart was released, it's where this modern mainstreamer's greatest growth began and, consequently, is well-deserving of return-to-print status. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/haunted-heart-marc-copland-hatology-review-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel: Marc Copland: piano; Drew Gress: double-bass; Jochen Rueckert: drums.

Haunted Heart

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John Hollenbeck - John Hollenbeck: The Claudia Quintet

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:27
Size: 155,8 MB
Art: Front

( 6:41)  1. Meinetwegen
( 6:53)  2. A-B-S-T-I-n-E-n-C-E
( 5:44)  3. Love Song for Kate
( 5:57)  4. Thursday 7: 30 PM (Holy)
(10:42)  5. Thursday 11.14 Am (Grey)
( 3:47)  6. Thursday 3: 44 PM (Playground)
( 6:17)  7. Burt and Ken
( 5:03)  8. ...After a Dance or Two, We Sit Down for a Pint with Gil and Tim...
( 9:17)  9. No D
( 7:01) 10. Visions of Claudia

Releasing three quite noteworthy CDs in as many months, drummer/composer John Hollenbeck certainly made what one might describe as an "auspicious debut" as a leader. Just consider the range of styles covered in this burst of activity. No Images, Hollenbeck's initial recording from October 2001, is the most avant-garde of the three, with drums and saxophones squaring off in free jazz territory and trombones and drums accompanying the taped voice of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Quartet Lucy, hitting the street in January 2002, reflects Hollenbeck's attraction to the austere and spacious music of the ECM label. And The Claudia Quintet (released on the very same day as Quartet Lucy), a recording of subtlety, beauty, and a fair measure of fire smoldering beneath its surface. Hollenbeck may have an avant streak as wide as the pond between Tonic and Bimhuis, but he's surely not one to avoid a groove. In the Claudia Quintet's drum chair, he often locks into a rhythm and gradually builds the intensity of his attack, taking his own sweet time to reach the dynamic peak in a piece of music. Hollenbeck also propels the music forward with a crisp and clean style that doesn't overwhelm his bandmates, including Chris Speed, the noted N.Y.C. reedman who tends to prefer subtle expressiveness over displays of high-volume bluster. On this debut CD by the band, Claudia pursues a cool after-hours chillout vibe much of the time, and the instrumentation should suggest what Hollenbeck is after: aside from Speed (contributing a bit of tenor sax in addition to clarinet), the quintet features vibraphonist Matt Moran, accordionist Ted Reichman, and ubiquitous upright bassist Drew Gress. This lineup doesn't require listeners to stuff cotton in their ears to prevent hearing damage. The inclination is rather to pull out the cotton in order to best appreciate the clarity and nuance of this ensemble the round tones of the clarinet, shimmer of the vibes, earthiness of the accordion, and deep resonance of the bass. All the instruments are afforded room to breath, as unembellished melodic lines and shifting harmonics are drawn out across the sure and steady pulse and gathering rhythmic energy of "Meinetwegen" and the first and third of the album's "Thursday" compositions. Modalism and momentum are traded for spacy atmospherics on the second "Thursday" piece, with its ringing and sustained tones courtesy of Moran's bowed and struck vibes. But don't think The Claudia Quintet is entirely a space cruise, as the album includes the lovely downtempo ballad "Love Song for Kate," the swinging tenor-driven "Burt and Ken," the nearly cacophonous riot of voices during the improvised middle section of "a-b-s-t-i-n-e-n-c-e," and the angular stop-and-start "No D," in which Reichman fires off a solo on accordion that sounds about as wild as one could get without breaking the thing. Auspicious debut, indeed. One senses that a new and important voice has emerged on the New York creative music scene. John Hollenbeck's future output is cause for much anticipation, whether he chooses to release subsequent albums single-file or two and three at a time. [The Claudia Quintet and Hollenbeck's other CRI Blueshift recordings may be purchased directly from his website.] ~ Dave Lynch https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-claudia-quintet-mw0001273441

Personnel: Drums, Percussion, Composed By, Producer – John Hollenbeck; Accordion – Ted Reichman;  Acoustic Bass – Drew Gress; Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone – Chris Speed; Vibraphone, Percussion – Matt Moran

John Hollenbeck: The Claudia Quintet

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Fred Hersch - Night & the Music

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:07
Size: 142,4 MB
Art: Front

(6:34)  1. So in Love
(6:16)  2. Rhythm Spirit
(6:20)  3. Heartland
(7:28)  4. Galaxy Fragment/You and the Night and the Music
(4:11)  5. Boo Boo's Birthday
(5:33)  6. Change Partners
(5:54)  7. How Deep Is the Ocean
(5:52)  8. Gravity's Pull
(6:21)  9. Andrew John
(7:35) 10. Misterioso

Pianist Fred Hersch is proving himself to be not only a solid mainstream jazz pianist but also an imaginative and creative musical force. His Leaves of Grass (Palmetto, 2005), with vocalist Kurt Elling broke new ground by setting the poetry of Walt Whitman to written and improvised musical composition incorporating jazz and traditional "heartland American motifs. Fred Hersch Live at the Bimhuis (Palmetto, 2006) offered a panoply of solo piano music at a high level of sophistication and technique. On Night and the Music, Hersch joins forces with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Nasheet Waits, using the richly interactive and expressive piano trio format (as powerfully developed by Bill Evans and taken further by Keith Jarrett) to form a latticework of images and musical ideas that is both highly listenable and relentlessly probing. The tracks include several originals, some American Songbook standards, and two Thelonious Monk compositions. The three musicians function as a tight, integrated unit sustaining stylistic integrity and steadiness of purpose such that the total impression is that of a unified exploration of the possibilities inherent in a series of tri-alogues about a few key ideas initiated by Hersch at the keyboard. The thematics of the album are more implied than stated, encouraging and allowing the listener to bring in his or her own understanding. 

The overriding motif is the dialogue between personal human experience and the cosmos, a dualistic mythos of Enlightenment philosophy that was a recurrent preoccupation of none other than Beethoven. Thus, for example, an original called "Galaxies is combined with the standard "You and the Night and the Music. Monk's "Boo Boo's Birthday is a personal testament, while his "Misterioso haunts us with a reach towards something beyond the human, something cosmic. "Change Partners contrasts with "Gravity's Pull. And so on, in an alternating exploration of possibilities inherent in the "starry nights of both Van Gogh and the astronomers. There are also some echoes of the late Beethoven in the complex counterpoint that emerges among Hersch, Gress, and Waits as they brood together on the vicissitudes of Fate and what it all might mean. This CD is conservative in its layout of what could be a coherent nightclub set rather than a juxtaposition of discordant variation that is characteristic of some of Hersch's other recordings. A comparison with the groundbreaking Bill Evans trio's At the Village Vanguard (Riverside, 1961) is inevitable. Both are non-stop introspective explorations (coincidentally the title of one of Evans' best albums). However, Evans was undeniably a romantic, while Hersch is anything but sentimental. On this CD, the music is presented as a series of puzzles and conundrums examined with Zen-like detachment or perhaps, in another regard, the mathematical precision of J.S. Bach. One is indeed moved, but not so much by the depth of feeling as by the imposing architecture of the musical development itself. ~ Victor L.Schermer https://www.allaboutjazz.com/night-and-the-music-fred-hersch-palmetto-records-review-by-victor-l-schermer.php

Personnel: Fred Hersch: piano; Drew Gress: bass; Nasheet Waits: drums.

Night & the Music

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Fred Hersch Trio - 97 @ The Village Vanguard

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:19
Size: 134,3 MB
Art: Front

( 9:50)  1. Easy to Love
(10:06)  2. My Funny Valentine
( 6:00)  3. Three Little Words
( 5:46)  4. Evanessence
( 7:36)  5. Andrew John
( 5:48)  6. I Wish I Knew
( 5:44)  7. Swamp Thang
( 7:28)  8. You Don't Know What Love Is

Pianist Fred Hersch paid some dues at the Village Vanguard, sitting in as a sideman there from 1979 on, playing with the bands of saxophonist Joe Henderson, trumpeter Art Farmer, alto sax man Lee Konitz, and bassist Ron Carter. But he waited until 1997 to make his debut as a leader. That debut was captured on tape, and surfaces now, years later, with the Fred Hersch Trio '97's @ The Village Vanguard. Hersch's subsequent history as a leader at the Village Vanguard also runs deep, with Live At The Vanguard (Palmetto, 2003), Alive At The Vanguard (Palmetto, 2003), Sunday Night at The Vanguard (Palmetto, 2016) and a solo set, Alone At The Vanguard (Palmetto, 2011). All of these are exceptional piano jazz recordings. @ The Village Vanguard reveals how his trio artistry sounded back in the beginning. Joined by bassist Drew Gress and Tom Rainey fine sidemen and leaders themselves this is the only outing that catches this early-career Hersch trio playing live, with a set that includes the group's takes on the standards ("Easy To Love," "My Funny Valentine," "You Don't Know What Love Is") and a batch of Hersch originals, including the sparkling and spritely "Evanessence," a nod to pianist Bill Evans, to whom Hersch, early on, was often compared. Hersch's artistry like that of Evan's (like that of most seasoned and dynamic artists) has taken on a remarkable depth and focus of vision over the years. And like Evans, it started at a stunningly high level with this particular trio, featured also on a pair of Chesky Records recordings, Dancing In The Dark (1993) and Plays (1994). Hersch has always been a particularly nuanced and versatile pianist capable of propulsive drive interspersed with breathtaking delicacy and pure, time-stopping beauty documented at the very beginning of his trio recording work, with @ The Village Vanguard. ~ Dan McClenaghan https://www.allaboutjazz.com/fred-hersch-trio-97-at-the-village-vanguard-fred-hersch-palmetto-records-review-by-dan-mcclenaghan.php

Personnel: Fred Hersch: piano; Drew Gress: bass; Tom Rainey: drums.

97 @ The Village Vanguard (Live)

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Bryn Roberts - Ludlow

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:25
Size: 122,6 MB
Art: Front

(8:30)  1. Ludlow
(5:48)  2. Indie
(4:33)  3. Fleure
(8:55)  4. Corrigan
(7:55)  5. Reruns
(7:12)  6. Eau De Vie
(4:34)  7. Dancing In The Dark
(5:55)  8. Hagamos Un Trato

Ludlow is a showcase for the considerable gifts of the young Canadian pianist and composer Bryn Roberts. It's a sparkling, varied CD that gets better with each listen. The music is characterized by strong compositional frameworks and flowing improvisation. Pianist Roberts composed all the material on Ludlow except the standard "Dancing In The Dark." His compositions have lengthier expositions than the standards played by earlier generations of jazz musicians. The title tune, for example, is an attractive line, long and flowing, with lyrical chord changes and stop-and-start rhythms that support sinuous improvisations, particularly by the fine young saxophonist Seamus Blake. In fact, it is Blake whose consistent excellence is responsible for the success of this album. His every solo is meticulously constructed, juggling complex ideas effortlessly, played with a warm, clear tone and a rolling swing. The fact that Blake eschews the electronic effects he has used elsewhere only serves to highlight his sound. Roberts, too, is a gifted improviser who isn't afraid to take chances, while his technical command and relaxed swing contribute to the long, lyrical lines that are characteristic of both his improvising and his compositions. Besides the variations in form, Roberts' compositions use other devices characteristic of today's new mainstream. He is fond of odd time signatures, for example. "Indie" sports a 7/4 funk beat, and "Corrigan" is a 7/4 bossa nova. And everybody's at home in good old 4/4, as the up-tempo cooker "Hagamos Un Trato" proves. Kudos also to the excellent rhythm section. Bassist Drew Gress plays with empathy, using imaginative note choices and placements. His lively walking on "Hagamos Un Trato" is also welcome. Mark Ferber is a marvelous young drummer who is most notable for his brilliant use of cymbal shadings and his righteous swing. ~ AAJ Staff https://www.allaboutjazz.com/ludlow-bryn-roberts-fresh-sound-new-talent-review-by-aaj-staff.php

Personnel: Bryn Roberts, piano; Seamus Blake, tenor sax; Drew Gress, bass; Mark Ferber, drums.

Ludlow

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George Colligan Trio - Stomping Ground

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 66:02
Size: 151.2 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 1998
Art: Front

[7:24] 1. Right Now
[6:44] 2. I Fall In Love Too Easily
[8:28] 3. Duchess
[8:45] 4. What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life
[5:12] 5. Upper Manhattan Medical Group
[5:17] 6. For Jan
[7:41] 7. Stomping Ground
[9:20] 8. The Peacocks
[7:08] 9. The Priestess

Bass – Drew Gress; Drums – Billy Hart; Piano – George Colligan. Recorded September 1997.

One of the best-kept secrets in jazz, pianist George Colligan has developed an intrepid attitude that goes hand-in-hand with a strong sense of identity. That was just as apparent on his first date as a leader for SteepleChase, Activism, as it is on this latest excursion into trio territory. Tunes such as Charles Tolliver’s “Right Now” or Billy Harper’s “The Priestess” were not really created for the piano, their lines voiced more easily by a horn player, yet Colligan fashions his own interpretations by making up for a scarcity in melodic content via a full exploitation of the rhythmic capabilities of the piano. In fact, Colligan’s style is distinguished by a graceful equilibrium, his harmonic knowledge complemented by an advanced sense of rhythm that is rare for a pianist.

With chops to spare, Colligan tackles a distinctive if slightly obscure set of numbers while welding the uncommon ability to bring new life into each interpretation. In his hands, the pop ditty “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life” emerges without the banal sentimentality and with every possible nuance wrung from its structure. Imagine McCoy Tyner mixed with just a dash of Cecil Taylor, if you will. Yet, Colligan can manage a heartfelt ballad without a hitch too, a lovely take on Kenny Wheeler’s “For Jan” a beautiful case in point.

Of course, to get down with the serious business at hand no less than a world class rhythm section will do. No problem there- bassist Drew Gress and drummer Billy Hart follow every hairpin turn, even anticipating Colligan’s moves at times. What we have here is 66 ½ minutes of piano trio jazz at the pinnacle of perfection. ‘Nuff said! ~Andrew Hovan

Stomping Ground mc
Stomping Ground zippy

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Ralph Alessi - Quiver

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:27
Size: 129,5 MB
Art: Front

(2:57)  1. Here Tomorrow
(5:18)  2. Window Goodbyes
(6:56)  3. Smooth Descent
(6:46)  4. Heist
(9:49)  5. Gone Today, Here Tomorrow
(6:14)  6. I to I
(5:17)  7. Scratch
(7:05)  8. Shush
(4:14)  9. Quiver
(1:47) 10. Do Over

Quiver finds trumpeter Ralph Alessi and his quartet in a lyrical, reflective mood. Alessi describes the atmosphere in the recording studio as "pensive," a quality that imbues this music. The group includes most of the players from Alessi's acclaimed ECM leader debut Baida (2013). Drew Gress (double-bass) and Nasheet Waits (drums) return, with Gary Versace taking the piano chair in place of Jason Moran. Tempting to ascribe the differences between the two sessions to the pianists, but I think it has more to do with the material and the interaction of the whole band. "Here Tomorrow" opens the set with a brief legato meditation, and the mood for much of the album is established from the start. Versace often begins the pieces with an unadorned statement of the harmony, and doesn't even take a solo until the third track, "Smooth Descent" (which is also a bit more up-tempo). "Heist" breaks the mold by opening with solo trumpet, but it makes room for another piano solo and a bass solo from team player Gress. At almost ten minutes "Gone Today, Here Tomorrow" is the longest selection, and it too contains more moderate up-tempo music, finally giving Waits an opportunity to cut loose a bit. While there's no burning here, it certainly is not all taken at rubato or ballad tempo. "Scratch" is built upon an ostinato, following some lovely piano playing on "I to I." "Shush" combines all of the previous musical elements by beginning rubato. building to an energetic middle section, then closing with a repeating pattern. Only the closer "Do Over" provides a large contrast, as the band plays the only really up-tempo tune in the program while Waits solos all the way through. It's far too short, and it's a shame the record doesn't contain a bit more of this kind of playing. The variety would have been welcome. But while it's a generally low-key session, it's full of beautiful playing and empathetic group interaction. ~ Mark Sullivan https://www.allaboutjazz.com/quiver-ralph-alessi-ecm-records-review-by-mark-sullivan.php

Personnel: Ralph Alessi: trumpet; Gary Versace: piano; Drew Gress: double-bass; Nasheet Waits: drums.

Quiver

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Ralph Alessi - Cognitive Dissonance

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:29
Size: 138,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:27)  1. Cognitive Dissonance
(4:28)  2. Buying, Selling
(2:55)  3. Dog Walking
(4:38)  4. Duel
(3:26)  5. A Plenty
(3:45)  6. One Wheeler Will
(3:47)  7. Sir
(3:42)  8. Goodbye Ruth's
(6:37)  9. Hair Trigger
(3:33) 10. Better Not To Know
(3:42) 11. Sunflower
(3:55) 12. Same Old Story
(4:45) 13. Option
(3:51) 14. Wait
(2:53) 15. Goodbye Ruth's (slow)

For his Cam Jazz debut, trumpeter Ralph Alessi recruits two key players from his sadly overlooked Look (Between the Lines, 2007). But while ubiquitous bassist Drew Gress (Marc Copland, Claudia Quintet) is a mainstay of Cognitive Dissonance, pianist Andy Milne only guests on the knottily themed but swinging "Sir" and a quirkily, near-unrecognizable version of Stevie Wonder's "Same Old Story." The rest of the album's fifteen tracks eleven by Alessi, in addition to a free-spirited yet surprisingly lyrical version of Sam Rivers' "Sunflower" and two collective improvs with Gress and drummer Nasheet Waits feature pianist Jason Moran, once again demonstrating his greater strengths as a sideman.The same needn't be said about Alessi who, along with fellow trumpeter Ron Miles, remains one of America's most perennially (and curiously) undervalued trumpeters. His plangent, warm and somehow compressed tone is just one compelling reason to check out bassist Scott Colley's Architect of the Silent Moment (Cam Jazz, 2007) (and his forthcoming 2010 Cam Jazz follow-up, Empire), guitarist Joel Harrison's The Wheel (Innova, 2008) and Gress' The Irrational Numbers (Premonition, 2008). With a relatively diminutive self-led discography, the avant-tinged trumpeter has also proven himself an astute bandleader and fine conceptualist, ranging from the oddly configured Vice & Virtue (RKM, 2003) to the more orthodox (but far from conventional) instrumental line-up of This Against That (RKM, 2002). Cognitive Dissonance covers a lot of ground in an hour. The irregularly metered but unfailingly grooving title track kicks things off on a high note, with Gress and Waits building an M-Base-centric foundation over which Moran's funkified piano sets a broad harmonic context. Alessi's impressive opening salvo sets the tone for an album where the soloists are challenged to say a great deal in a short timeframe, succeeding consistently. Despite only one track exceeding six minutes, with the majority ranging between three and four, there's never a sense of being hurried, as Alessi solos with equal invention over the even more rhythmically intricate "Buying, Selling" his even briefer solo (on a tune where the head occupies a full minute of its 2:56 running time) a muted combination of spare, swinging ideas and equal consideration of space, with Moran's staggered accompaniment leading to a similarly well-conceived solo, supported by the ever-pliant, ever-responsive Gress and Waits.

Alessi waxes lyrical on the balladic "Dog Waking" and tango-esque "One Wheeler Will," written for William Coltrane son of legendary saxophonist John Coltrane's son (and also very fine reed man) Ravi Coltrane. An inadvertent nod to expat Canadian trumpet icon Kenny Wheeler in the trumpeter's tone and expressive melancholy, "One Wheeler Will" also features a robust, yet metallic and Gary Peacock-like solo from Gress that's a Cognitive Dissonance highlight. With so much ground covered, it would be easy for Cognitive Dissonance to lose its focus, to become overly eclectic. But with Alessi's writing a challenging combination of memorable themes, harmonically and rhythmically tricky contexts and improvisational largess and an unfettered yet focused playing style that never succumbs to excess, Cognitive Dissonance easily deserves consideration alongside the music of better-known contemporaries like Dave Douglas. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/cognitive-dissonance-ralph-alessi-cam-jazz-review-by-john-kelman.php
 

Personnel: Ralph Alessi: trumpet; Drew Gress: double-bass; Jason Moran: piano (1-6, 8-11, 13-15); Andy Milne: piano (7, 12); Nasheet Waits: drums.

Cognitive Dissonance

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John Abercrombie Quartet - 39 Steps

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:41
Size: 136,9 MB
Art: Front

(6:21)  1. Vertigo
(6:51)  2. LST
(7:21)  3. Bacharach
(6:15)  4. Greenstreet
(4:08)  5. As It Stands
(6:53)  6. Spellbound
(5:22)  7. Another Ralph’s
(3:12)  8. Shadow Of A Doubt
(8:36)  9. 39 Steps
(4:37) 10. Melancholy Baby

John Abercrombie has rarely played with pianists, at least in his own groups and throughout his extensive discography as a leader for ECM Records that began with the immediate classic, 1975's Timeless. Other than a brief reunion with that record's group for 1984's Night, the veteran guitarist has, in fact, only recorded with one other piano-based group, the quartet responsible for Arcade (1979), Abercrombie Quartet (1980) and M (1981) all featuring another intrepid improviser, Richie Beirach, and slated for released in 2014 as an Old & New Masters Edition box that will finally see all three in print on CD (two for the first time). Meanwhile, 39 Steps is, then, Abercrombie's first recording as a leader with a pianist since Night, though it's far from a first encounter. 39 Steps may be pianist Marc Copland's long overdue ECM debut a post-Bill Evans pianist whose attention to touch and space have long made him a worthy candidate for the label's pristine sonic approach but this group, with the exception of drummer Joey Baron, who replaces original drummer Billy Hart, has been working together, on occasion, since Second Look (Savoy Jazz, 1996), reuniting in 2007 for Another Place (Pirouet, 2008). But if both dates featured Copland as ostensible leader, they were all rather egalitarian when it came to compositional contributions, split fairly evenly between the pianist and Abercrombie.

39 Steps represents a couple of significant differences, beyond Baron's recruitment. First, the lion's share of the compositions belong to Abercrombie, who rightfully assumes leader credit here, with Copland contributing only two of the set's ten pieces, along with one group-credited free improv and an indirect closing nod to tradition with a reading of "Melancholy Baby" that still fits within the quartet's overall sphere of approach; freely interpreted, in this case with no time and no discernible changes, its melody remains recognizable amidst the freewheeling yet carefully controlled freedom and interaction within which this group operates. The other important change is, for the first time, having an external producer in this case, ECM label head Manfred Eicher. As good as Copland's two previous recordings sound, there's a notable and tremendous difference in how this date sounds: more delicate, more rarefied, with every note discernible right down to its final decay and even the most delicate touch of a cymbal occupying its rightful place in the overall soundscape. From the first notes of Abercrombie's opening "Vertigo," with Copland's repeated single-note motif supported by both his left hand and Abercrombie's careful voicing one of the guitarist's strengths always being his intrinsic ability to work with other chordal instruments without either ever getting in the way of them it's clear just how transparent everything is, allowing the music to breathe in ways that previous collaborations with Abercrombie, Copland and Gress have not.

Copland's delicate touch at times, seeming to barely brush the keys, as on Abercrombie's balladic "As It Stands" is definitive, as is the relentlessly reliable support coming from Gress and Baron, whether swinging elegantly on the pianist's brighter, appealingly lyrical "LST" or the guitarist's slower-tempo'd "Bacharach," the pair shifting feels so seamlessly as to be almost unnoticeable ... almost. The interaction, in particular between Abercrombie and Copland, is as deep as decades playing together would suggest, and if this program of largely new composition feels both fresh and familiar to fans of both players, there's one tune that is particularly so: "Another Ralph's," an update or, perhaps, sequel to Abercrombie's "Ralph's Piano Waltz," originally written for guitarist/pianist and duo mate Ralph Towner, first heard on Timeless but which has become, along with that album's title tracks, one of Abercrombie's most often-played tunes, having been recorded by everyone from Towner himself on Solo Concert (ECM, 1980) to Abercrombie, who revisited the tune on Current Events (1986), with his then-trio of Marc Johnson and Peter Erskine. Eicher often encourages artists to engage in free improvisation at his sessions, and while neither Abercrombie nor Copland are strangers to such unfettered contexts, "Shadow of a Doubt" is the first recorded instance of the two engaging in such completely unplanned spontaneity. Between Gress' soft arco, Copland's harp-like, sustain pedal-driven sweeps and Baron's textural cymbal work, it slowly coalesces into form as Abercrombie joins in with volume pedal-swelled lines, angular in nature but somehow soft and rounded in timbre, even as the quartet gradually turns to more oblique territory as the three-minute improvisation nears its end. As good as their previous recordings together have been, 39 Steps represents a major leap forward for Abercrombie and Copland's relationship, even as the guitarist returns to the piano-based configuration that was his first touring context, back in the late '70s. With Copland a welcome addition to the ECM roster and Eicher paying so much attention to music coming out of the New York City area these last couple of years notable (and diverse) examples being Tim Berne's Shadow Man, Craig Taborn's Chants and Chris Potter's The Sirens, all 2013 releases here's hoping that this quartet will continue, and that Copland will ultimately be afforded the opportunity to record more for the label...perhaps, even, a solo piano session, whose potential would be most intriguing with Eicher in the producer's chair, and with the lucent sonics of the label that Abercrombie has called home for nearly forty years. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/john-abercrombie-quartet-39-steps-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel: John Abercrombie (guitar); Marc Copland (piano); Drew Gress (double bass); Joey Baron (drums).

R.I.P.

39 Steps

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Marc Copland - Better By Far

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:33
Size: 143,7 MB
Art: Front

(8:55)  1. Day and Night
(6:25)  2. Better by Far
(4:33)  3. Mr DJ
(9:40)  4. Gone Now
(5:20)  5. Twister
(8:29)  6. Room Enough for Stars
(5:16)  7. Evidence
(8:08)  8. Dark Passage
(5:43)  9. Who Said Swing

Marc Copland got his start in jazz in New York City as a sometimes plugged-in alto saxophonist, working with drummer Chico Hamilton's Quartet, and releasing an overlooked album, Friends (Oblivion Records, 1973) featuring his own quartet. Then he went away, and came back as a pianist, and has since shaped himself into one of finest jazz piano guys around, an artist with a supple touch, a feel for intricately gorgeous melodies and a deep immersion into complex harmonies. In 2015, after a fruitful career that shifted from one record label to another, Copland started his own Inner Voice Records, and offered up the maiden release, Zenith (2015), a quartet affair with Ralph Alessi on trumpet, with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Joey Baron rounding out the rhythm section. The year 2017 finds Copland offering up his second release on the label, Better By Far, a reconvening the Zenith quartet. The music consists of three group improvisations, five Copland compositions, and a Thelonious Monk tune, "Evidence." Two of Copland's most significant teamings over the years have been with guitarist John Abercrombie, and now with trumpeter Alessi. Where Copland's brush paints sound with a developed delicacy of touch, shimmering chords, and gorgeous, amorphous shapings, Alessi uses brighter colors and sharper edges. Especially edgy are the group improvisations, like "Mr. DJ," that opens with Baron's soft drum whispers, joined by Alessi's stabs of metallic notes, Copland's percussive ruminations. "Twister" is a more fluid, more introspective, darker-toned piece that builds momentum along the way. Speaking of dark tones, the Copland-penned "Gone Now," has a pensive, melancholy mood similar to that of Gershwin's "Gone, Gone, Gone," from the masterpiece, Porgy And Bess (1938). "Room Enough For Stars" floats. It's a beautiful ballad like only Copland can write, featuring Alessi in a patient laying down of the melody, and a piquant bass turn by Gress; while Thelonious Monk's "Evidence" finds the group in a more playful mood an energetic romp that stretches the Monkian angularity with an appealing malleability. With Better By Far Marc Copland and Company continue to create the highest level of jazz. ~ Dan McClenaghan https://www.allaboutjazz.com/better-by-far-marc-copland-innervoice-jazz-review-by-dan-mcclenaghan.php

Personnel:  Marc Copland: piano;  Ralph Alessi: trumpet;  Drew Gress: bass; Joey Barron: drums.

Better By Far

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John Abercrombie Quartet - Up And Coming

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:15
Size: 109,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:12)  1. Joy
(2:53)  2. Flipside
(7:18)  3. Sunday School
(5:51)  4. Up And Coming
(7:34)  5. Tears
(7:06)  6. Silver Circle
(6:21)  7. Nardis
(5:57)  8. Jumbles

Starting the new year with, if not precisely a bang, a nevertheless unforgettable record whose strength lies in pristine lyricism, nuanced group interplay and writing that capitalizes on the entire quartet's appreciation of subtlety over gymnastics and refined lyricism over angularity, John Abercrombie's Up and Coming ECM's first release of the year is also founded strongly on the concept of relationship. The guitarist has been playing with Marc Copland since the pianist's days in the early '70s as a saxophonist before deserting it entirely for a career and discography that's as rich and rewarding as Abercrombie's. And the two have continued working together regularly since Copland's switch to piano: before coming to ECM on Abercrombie's critically acclaimed 39 Steps (2013), the pair had recorded in a group under Copland's name, first for Savoy Jazz with 1996's Second Look, then Hatology for 2003's Marc Copland And..., and finally with Pirouet on 2008's Another Place. And that excludes other projects, such as their 2010 quintet recording with Dave Liebman as Contact, Five on One (Pirouet), a 2011 duo recording, Speak to Me (Pirouet) and two trio recordings with the late Kenny Wheeler, including Brand New (Challenge, 2005). But the relationship doesn't end there. Bassist Drew Gress' far-reaching ubiquity is only matched by his ability bring a personal sound to everything from the more avant-leaning The Claudia Quintet and Dave Douglas to contemporary mainstream spaces with artists including pianist Fred Hersch and Tim Hagans not to mention a small but strong discography of his own, including 2013's The Sky Inside (Pirouet). He is not only a charter member of the same Abercrombie (or Copland, depending on the date) quartet, beginning with Second Look; he has a longstanding relationship with the pianist in other contexts, including 2009's New York Trio Recordings, Vol. 3: Night Whispers (Pirouet) and 2005's Some Love Songs (Pirouret), while joining the guitarist on a rare saxophone-infused date, Within a Song (ECM, 2012).

Joey Baron whose joyous approach and willingness to try anything has turned him into a similarly in-demand musician may be the relative youngster to this collective relationship, but he's far from new. He not only replaced original quartet drummer Billy Hart on Another Place and 39 Steps; his relationship with Abercrombie goes even farther back to the guitarist's four string-heavy recordings with violinist Mark Feldman, from 2002's Cat 'n' Mouse (ECM) through to 2009's Wait Till You See Her (ECM). But as strong as relationships can be in building a group chemistry as potent as that found on Up and Coming, there has to be more to it. Guitar and piano do not always make for comfortable bedfellows, as the potential for stepping on each other's toes, harmonically speaking, is always a risk; but one of Abercrombie and Copland's greatest combined strengths is their ability to listen and intuit...there are never any of the "train wrecks" that so often run the risk of scuttling multiple harmonic instruments brought together. Instead, the pair seems to effortlessly complement one another with an appealing harmonic ambiguity that has become one of the group's touchstones; its open-ears approach extending, of course, to Gress and Baron, who manage to bring both sinewy strength and elegant understatement to this quartet's music. From Up and Coming's relatively brief, introspective opener, the guitarist's curiously titled "Joy," the quartet combines elegant interpretation of a less-than-common yet still eminently singable theme with Abercrombie and Copland mere nanoseconds apart, creating a delicious sense of tension and release, to brief but eminently lyrical solos from the pair the pianist, in particular, bolstered by the empathic Gress and Baron, builds this rubato tone poem to its clear climax...and suggests another definer of this wonderful quartet: its capacity for evoking broad dynamic contrasts with, sometimes, the subtlest of gestures.

Copland's delicate touch and use of his instrument's pedals to create even more expansive harmonies has long been a measure of his best work; a touchstone that fits, hand-in-glove, with Abercrombie's similarly less-traveled voicings and soft attack, the latter stemming from his move, in the mid-'90s, from plectrum to his thumb's yielding flesh. Together, the pair evoke remarkable strength without ever resorting to the obvious; both have managed to create instantly recognizable yet never predictable approaches that rely on a deeper melodic and harmonic language rather than more obvious signatures. But as soft and lush as their collaborative sound is and as much as it sometimes feels necessary to almost lean forward to fully capture their work that shouldn't suggest that Abercrombie's quartet lacks muscle. The guitarist's more buoyant "Flipside" another miniature that doesn't even break the three-minute mark swings with powerful fluidity, its theme once again iterated in ever-so-slightly staggered fashion by the guitarist and pianist before Gress and Baron enter, the bassist walking hard and Baron delicately driving the brief solos with a persistent quarter-note cymbal pulse...but punctuated, on his snare and toms, as empathically as they are joy-filled. Anyone who has seen Baron in performance knows that a smile and sometimes flat-out laughter never seems to leave his face, as he approaches whatever music he's playing with a kind of reckless exhilaration, flexible interpretation and sheer joy that's rarely so visible in concert...and is, indeed, absolutely audible on record as well.

In an LP-length program that brings together five Abercrombie compositions with two contributions from Copland, it's particularly gratifying to hear this quartet approach Miles Davis' classic "Nardis" a song that the guitarist has played often but never recorded under his own name. It is, perhaps, the best example of how inimitably Abercrombie, Copland, Gress and Baron collaborate; following a rubato intro, even when the group begins to play in tempo and irrespective of this often-played song's melody the quartet's loose, open-ended and surprise-laden approach renders this most familiar of compositions as unpredictable as anything else to be found on the record. Yes, the changes are always there: sometimes more direct, other times so subtly intimated as to be barely recognizable; and yet, when Abercrombie, Copland and Baron solo, their allegiance to the song's heart is paradoxically crystal clear while, at the same time, being somehow opaque. All of these qualities characterize Up and Coming's entire 48-minutes duration, from Abercrombie's abstract yet melody-rich "Jumbles," waltz-time "Sunday School" and ambling title track to Copland's darker, more dramatic "Tears" (featuring a particularly memorable solo from Gress) and "Silver Circle" the album's most unfettered and impressive example of everything that makes this group so special. Beginning with an open vamp, largely driven by Gress, it ultimately resolves into another singable but uncommon melody, setting up modal-based and motif-driven opportunities for both Abercrombie who lends Up and Coming its only hint of grit with some slight overdrive and Copland, who demonstrates that a soft touch can, indeed, possess plenty of inner strength.

All told, it may be Abercrombie's shortest album since his 1990 trio with Vince Mendoza and Jon Christensen, Animato; but like that often (and unfairly) overlooked album, Up and Coming's brief duration only renders it more appealing, like the perfect live performance that leaves an audience sated but, at the same time, hungry for more. That Copland has finally, in the past few years, found his way to ECM in addition to Abercrombie, with bassist Gary Peacock, whose Now This (ECM, 2015), also featuring Baron, was one of the year's best recordings seems, in retrospect, not only inevitable but overdue. The quartet Abercrombie has shared with Copland and Gress for over two decades, irrespective of who is listed as the leader, is finally being recorded with the clarity and transparency it deserves, while the creative input provided by label head/producer Manfred Eicher drives the music in directions it might not otherwise go.
All of which make Up and Coming, ECM's first record of 2017, a success on all fronts. This is a group whose collaborative capabilities have only strengthened over the years, growing deeper and more telepathic. Of the tradition while, at the same time, challenging it with a unique and instantly recognizable combination of grace-filled subtlety, rich melodism, improvisational élan, mitochondrial chemistry and a profound harmonic language, Up and Coming starts 2017 with an album that is already a strong contender for its year-end best-of lists. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/john-abercrombie-quartet-up-and-coming-by-john-kelman.php
 

Personnel: John Abercrombie: guitar; Marc Copland: piano; Drew Gress: double bass; Joey Baron: drums.

Up And Coming

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Marc Copland - Another Place

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:22
Size: 139,1 MB
Art: Front

(10:47)  1. Like You
(11:31)  2. River Bend
( 5:47)  3. Dark Horse
( 7:19)  4. Car Blue Lady
(10:08)  5. Another Place
( 7:18)  6. Ballad In Two Keys
( 7:27)  7. Everything I Love

It's taken nearly a lifetime for British pianist John Taylor to receive the credit he's due. While still underappreciated in his own country, Marc Copland does seem to be pushing his way through the morass of American pianists to a position of greater prominence. With a discography that gets better every year, Copland approaching sixty, but looking a decade younger is, with little fuss but relentless persistence, emerging as an artist of significance, with a leading voice and compositional approach. Copland has had many great groups over the years, one being his longstanding trio with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Jochen Ruckert, last heard on Some Love Songs (Pirouet, 2005). One of his best outside the piano trio format was the quartet responsible for Second Look (Savoy Jazz, 1996). More than a decade later Copland has reconvened guitarist John Abercrombie, bassist Drew Gress and drummer Billy Hart for Another Place, an album that retains the magic of Second Look while reflecting the many changes that have taken place in the ensuing years. In 1996 Gress was still a relative up-and-comer, though he'd already established significant links with artists ranging from Fred Hersch to Erik Friedlander and Ben Monder. Now an increasingly in-demand player, he's a leader in his own right, with 7 Black Butterflies (Premonition) one of 2005's best releases. Here he contributes "Dark Horse," a soft-spoken tune with a deceptively simple veneer of ascending chords that, nevertheless, provides Abercrombie and Copland an opportunity to develop statements as much about texture and ambience as unmistakable melody. Copland, while retaining his signature ethereal harmonic ambiguity, builds a solo of unexpected and understated power.

Hart one of the busiest drummers on the scene brings a personal sense of time and swing, always sounding like himself while allowing every group he's in to build its own identity. On the album's sole standard, Cole Porter's "Everything I Love," Hart's gentle pulse keeps things in the mainstream, while pushing and probing with a delicate but persistent ride cymbal that focuses the entire group. But the real magic is the interaction between Copland and Abercrombie, two players who go right back to the 1970s loft scene, when Copland was still an altoist. Friendship and years of intersection have created a deep simpatico, allowing them to simultaneously lead and follow, with Copland's dark "Like You" dependent on their working through its lengthy head with the perfect balance of togetherness and interpretive looseness. Even more atmospheric than Second Look, the free intro to Abercrombie's "River Bend" succeeds only because everyone is playing with ears wide open. Still, there's a strength about Another Place too, with the core of "River Bend" approaching folkloric territory with a firm rhythm. But even when an unexpected swing emerges, it's only a signpost, a rallying point around which the group can coalesce before heading into more rarefied terrain. It's a place that's increasingly becoming home for Copland, and in its accessible yet oftentimes gossamer-like delicacy, one deserving greater attention. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/another-place-marc-copland-pirouet-records-review-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel: Marc Copland: piano; John Abercrombie: guitar; Drew Gress: bass; Billy Hart: drums.

Another Place

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Steve Davis - Quality of Silence

Styles: Jazz, Post-Bop
Year: 1998
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:23
Size: 118,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:33)  1. The Quality of Your Silence
(5:27)  2. Bye Bye Blackbird
(3:46)  3. One Two Free
(4:27)  4. I Thought About You
(4:19)  5. Yesterdays
(6:13)  6. Infant Eyes
(2:16)  7. Free To Be Me
(6:21)  8. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
(5:46)  9. I'm Old Fashioned
(3:12) 10. Freedom
(4:59) 11. A Cole Porter Flat

Drummer Steve Davis has a keen ear that appreciates the sounds of silence as well as the sounds of music. “The power and beauty of a song is determined by the notes that you don’t play, as much as it is the notes you play,” Davis muses in the liners. Though an oft-touted goal, it’s one not generally made by drummers. Here, however, Davis really does “play” the silences thus living up to the promise of the project’s title. Indeed, it’s the charged negative spaces surrounding the notes as much as the notes themselves that keep resonating after the music has faded. Here, Davis’ implosive minimalism is fleshed out by soprano saxist Tim Ries, guitarist John Hart, bassist Drew Gress and pianist Andy LaVerne. “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” typifies the approach. Taken at a dizzyingly slow tempo, each pearl of Kern’s melodic strand stands alone, suspended against a black velvet void. Even when the tempo zooms, there’s still great clarity. Davis is a visionary, a master percussionist whose sticks and brushes paint rather than pound. Yes, Davis solos with elan (check out his pungent sketch at the end of “Blackbird”). This, however, is a project in which group interactions rather than soloistic stunting carry the day. ~ Chuck Berg https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/steve-davis-quality-of-silence/

Personnel: Steve Davis (drums); Tim Ries (soprano saxophone); Andy LaVerne (piano); John Hart (guitar); Drew Gress (bass).

Quality of Silence

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Tim Hagans - Beautiful Lily

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:48
Size: 139,6 MB
Art: Front

(1:55)  1. Prologue
(7:33)  2. Space Dozen
(8:10)  3. Beautiful Lily
(5:51)  4. Doyle's Foil
(2:11)  5. Interlude I
(8:43)  6. The Sun At The Zenith
(5:38)  7. Buck Eyes
(2:06)  8. Interlude II
(8:54)  9. Footprints
(7:56) 10. Emazing
(1:45) 11. Epilogue

While he's been by no means inactive, it's been six years since trumpeter Tim Hagans released his last album, Re-Animation: Live in Montreal, which found him exploring his own version of electronica/fusion. Beautiful Lily returns him to a mainstream acoustic setting, but with his stellar quartet featuring pianist Marc Copland, bassist Drew Gress, and drummer Bill Stewart it's anything but conventional. Hagans and Copland have crossed paths before, most notably on Copland's Softly (Savoy, 1997) also featuring Stewart and on their duet disc Between the Lines (Steeplechase, 2001), which put their clear chemistry front and center. Clearly they share much in common, but under Hagans' leadership Copland is a considerably more outgoing player than he has been on his own recent releases, including the trio recording Some Love Songs (Pirouet, 2005) and his profoundly moving solo album Time Within Time (Hatology, 2005). 

Still, there's no question that Hagans' more extroverted approach and Copland's more introverted abstraction do cross-pollinate. The four duet tracks that bookend and break up the quartet tracks "Prologue," "Interlude I," "Interlude II," and "Epilogue" are all relatively dark-hued and oblique. Copland's 5/4 tone poem "The Sun at the Zenith" is equally somber, revolving around a haunting bass pattern but retaining Copland's obscure melodic sense and sparsely played but nevertheless dense harmonics. Hagans' "Space Dozen" is also based on an elliptical bass line and more obscure harmonies, but Gress and Stewart give it a little more swing. Both Hagan's title track and "Emazing" are closer to the center, and offer gentle Latin references, but in the hands of Copland, Gress, and Stewart the allusion is less obvious and more suggestive, with Hagans' solos economical and lyrical. In contrast, Copland's "Doyle's Foil" is a spirited swinger that gives Hagans the chance to demonstrate a greater range, especially after Copland's solo, where Hagans and Stewart go it alone during one of the disc's most energetic moments.

Hagans favours a warm, vibrato-less sound, but he's more Woody Shaw than Miles. On the boppish "Buck Eyes" he proves, like Kenny Wheeler, that it's possible to aim for the high notes without being brash, although he avoids the huge intervallic jumps that so strongly define Wheeler's approach. Beautiful Lily marks the third time that Copland has been heard covering Wayne Shorter's classic "Footprints" this year. But while his own solo and trio versions were as enigmatic as Shorter himself, Hagans' quartet arrangement straddles the fence between mystery and clarity. Beautiful Lily's mainstream approach is nevertheless considerably left of center. In part it's the material both Hagans and Copland are more modernistic in their harmonic and rhythmic ideas. 

But equally it's the interpretation of the quartet, especially Gress' and Stewart's open-minded approach which maintains a pulse without beating you over the head with it. Proof positive that the mainstream can retain a sense of adventure and contemporary edge, Beautiful Lily is also a welcome return for Hagans as a leader. Let's hope we don't have to wait another six years for the followup. ~ John Kelman  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/beautiful-lily-tim-hagans-pirouet-records-review-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel: Tim Hagans: trumpet; Marc Copland: piano; Drew Gress: bass; Bill Stewart: drums.

Beautiful Lily

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Marc Copland, Drew Gress & Bill Stewart - New York Trio Recording Vol.3 - Night Whispers

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2009
File: MP3@224K/s
Time: 58:29
Size: 94,0 MB
Art: Front

(1:59)  1. Emily (Take One)
(8:36)  2. The Bell Tolls
(8:01)  3. Night Whispers
(2:50)  4. Emily (Take Two)
(6:59)  5. So What
(6:42)  6. Like It Never Was
(7:11)  7. Space Acres
(2:07)  8. Emily (Take Three)
(6:32)  9. Scattered Leaves
(7:27) 10. I Fall In Love Too Easily

Some artists are so consistent that it's difficult to tag one release as better than another. Still, every now and then they manage to release career milestones that stand above the rest. Pianist Marc Copland's Time Within Time (HATology, 2005) is one such watershed a sublime solo piano session that transcends mere virtuosity and digs so deeply into its repertoire that it's almost impossible not to feel fully a part the experience rather than just an innocent bystander.  Night Whispers, the final volume in Copland's New York Trio Recordings series, also including Vol. 1: Modinha (Pirouet, 2006) and Vol. 2: Voices (Pirouet, 2007), is more than just the best of the bunch; it leverages Copland's unique strengths while avoiding a comfort zone that could entice the pianist and his trio to take the road well-traveled. Instead, Copland, bassist Drew Gress, and drummer Bill Stewart explore unexpected twists and turns while remaining true to Copland's introspective nature, simmering with a rare underlying heat that occasionally bursts to a boil. One obvious reason for Night Whispers' distinction is the substitution of Stewart for Jochen Rueckert, the drummer in Copland's longstanding trio. On this set of Copland, Gress, and Stewart originals, and standards including Miles Davis' "So What," Julie Styne's "I Fall in Love Too Easily," and Johnny Mandel's "Emily," the flexible and uniquely melodic drummer has rarely sounded better. Copland's "The Bell Tolls" begins in melancholy abstraction, but following Gress' lyrical solo Stewart begins turning up the heat during Copland's impressionistic turn, leading to a drum solo that perfectly meshes empathic responsiveness with reckless abandon, pushing the group to a level of energy rarely heard from the Copland/Gress/Rueckert trio. 

Copland's title track is surprisingly upbeat despite its harmonic abstrusity and contrapuntal melodicism, as Stewart's turbulent but firm support drives the pianist to an uncharacteristically heated solo, all the while retaining a touch so delicate that it almost demands leaning forward into the music to catch it all. "Scattered Leaves" also simmers with smoldering energy, an altered blues not unlike Voices' "River's Run," with marvelously indirect interplay between Copland, Gress, and Stewart. Gress' dark-hued tone poem, "Like It Never Was," revolves around a gently explored, repetitive motif, as does Stewart's "Space Acres," though the latter does gradually pick up a head of steam. Copland often divides his albums into sections through exploring multiple takes of a tune, and here it's three solo readings of "Emily": softly abstract ("Take One"); song-like and literal ("Take Three"); and near stream-of-consciousness ("Take Two"). Copland's ties to the tradition are undeniable, but he's rarely swung as hard as he does here on "So What" where, once its familiar theme is dispensed with, it becomes an improvisational free-for-all that remains structured, even as it's clear there's little holding the trio back. It's rare that a single personnel change so significantly alters a group's dynamic and creativity, but Stewart makes Night Whispers an outstanding and definitive trio disc for Copland. On the merits of this seminal set, it would be almost criminal were this group to be but a one-time affair. ~ John Kelman  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=31682#.Uv0IQIXYMbg
 

Personnel: Marc Copland: piano; Drew Gress: bass; Bill Stewart: drums.

New York Trio Recording Vol.3 - Night Whispers

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